Brunei Shrimp to Europe ?
MUARA, 15 May 2010,
Saturday - THE Department of Fisheries is looking to add Europe as a
destination for Brunei's shrimp exports, as the continent boasts a
better market for the product, said the Director of Fisheries during an
interview with The Brunei Times on Saturday.
"The European market is good because shrimp fetches a high price," said
Hjh Hasnah Ibrahim.
She said that present shrimp production had met food safety and quality
standards to export to other countries such as the United States, Japan
and Korea, but not to Europe.
"European standards are very stringent, the toughest in the world," she
said.
Hjh Hasnah said that the European Commission's Food and Veterinary
Office (FVO) had come to Brunei last year to make inspections. "After
their visit, they gave us a number of recommendations and we are now
working hard to rectify the gaps," she said, adding that the FVO were
expected to make another inspection next year.
The FVO is a service of the European Commission (EC) tasked with
ensuring that Community legislation on food safety, animal and plant
health, and animal welfare is properly implemented and enforced.
According to the final report of the inspection, found on the EC
official website, the FVO had sent two inspectors to evaluate whether
the official controls put in place by the Department of Fisheries could
guarantee that the conditions of production of fishery products intended
for export to the European Union (EU), were equivalent to the
requirements laid down in Community legislation in order for the EC to
consider the possibility of including Brunei among the countries able to
export these products to the EU.
The report stated that the inspection was made after the Department of
Fisheries, referred to as the Competent Authority (CA) in Brunei, made
an application for permission to export fishery products to the EU in
May 2009.
The conclusions of the report were that the CA had developed a quality
system based on several documented procedures for the EU fishery product
export industry.
However, at the time of inspection, implementation of this system had
only just begun and did not completely cover all the requirements of the
fishery production chain. Hazard Analysis Critical Control Points (HACCP)
systems in establishments were not yet evaluated by the CA.
It also stated that the CA could not ensure that raw materials to be
used in establishments approved to participate in the EU FP export chain
fully met Community requirements.
The Department of Fisheries responded to recommendations given by the
FVO; one such proposal was to train those involved by an international
expert experienced in fish inspection, on hygiene in processing plants
according to EU legislation, auditing and inspection of aquaculture
farms, vessels and other establishments, quality control, HACCP systems,
traceability and product recall and, in food safety on raw materials and
handling to finished products.
Also from February, selected inspectors of the CA for establishments,
farms and vessels involved in the production of fishery products
intended for EU export, are to be trained in food safety and hygiene in
order to be competent.
Hjh Hasnah also spoke about a recent trip she had made to Brussels, to
attend the European Seafood Exposition, the world's largest seafood fair
which attracts buyers and sellers from over around the world and
features over 1,600 exhibitors.
"Exporting to the EU mean fulfilling a lot of requirements. At the expo,
there were all kinds of businesses; small and large, and they have all
passed the test (to sell to the EU)," she said.
Hjh Hasnah added that she hoped one day a company from Brunei would be
among the many exhibitors, displaying quality products.
Increasing exports of fishery products is part of the Brunei's economic
growth and diversification plans. The Department of Fisheries has
recently completed building a Seafood Storage, Handling and Processing
Centre at the Fisheries Landing Complex in Muara, which aims to allow
small and medium enterprises to develop and expand into the export
market.
- Courtesy of
the Brunei Times -
